The Danger of Smoking to Your Home

8/19/2020 (Permalink)

For years, smoking has been known to have negative consequences on your health, but what about the health of your home? Although smoking inside in public areas has been outlawed for some years, smoking inside is still common in many households across the U.S. Besides the Health consequences from smoking, your home can also suffer damages as well.

Fire Danger

Smoking is the leading cause of death in home fires. With an average of 590 deaths annually and 1,130 injuries. Fires caused by smoking materials happen mostly in bedrooms (34%) and living rooms (43%) these are areas where flammable materials such as blankets, carpet, and couch fibers are liable to catch fire if they are exposed to a flame from a cigarette.

Smoking is generally viewed as only harmful to oneself, or through secondhand smoke. However, if a fire breaks out from smoking, this damages the home and endangers the lives of everyone who lives there.

Resale Value

When trying to resell a home, one that has been occupied by a smoker can be a tough sell. The smell from cigarettes is a tough one to remove and simply cleaning the carpet is not always the solution. The smell from smoke can get trapped in cupboards, vents, and even the ceiling. All of this combines to reduce home value by almost 29%. This reduced value is sure to keep rising in severity as smoking becomes less common in society.

How to Clean

Smoke is one of the most challenging smells to get out of your home. Anyone who has burnt their dinner knows the smell can linger for hours. Years of smoking inside is even harder to restore a fresh smell. When dealing with smoke, simply spraying an air freshener or cleaning the carpet will likely not do anything to help.

Cleaning the walls and ceilings with a cleaning solution is a great start, followed by a deep cleaning of the carpets and floors. Oftentimes you may need to professionally clean your air ducts. The smoke smell can get stuck in your ducts, furnace, and air conditioning units, which will need to be fully removed to keep the smell from circulating throughout your home.

NFPA (Jan. 2019) Home Fires Started by Smoking. NFPA.com. Marty Ahrens.

Realtor Magazine. (July, 2018) How Much Cigarette Smoke Decreases Resale Value.